Three Creams, Four Sugars and One Man With a Gun
by Kkarrie
Summary: Buzz is stuck in a coffee shop and Lassiter is the only one who can get him out.


This was all his fault. That is what Carlton Lassiter decided as he watched anxiously outside the coffee shop two blocks from the police station. The coffee had been gone when he'd barked at McNab to fix him a cup that morning. If he had listened when the rookie had told him that the coffee was gone and it would be ten minutes until the new pot would be ready, they wouldn't be in this situation. But no, Lassiter had insisted on having his coffee without a side of excuses, and McNab, like the dutiful puppy he was, had walked the two blocks to get Lassiter a cup. Lassiter could even see the steaming mug through the window sitting on the counter next to McNab. There were no signs of panic on the officer's face, but Lassiter knew that somewhere in that coffee shop, was a man with a gun, a man that was liable to do anything.

"Damn it, where is my contact with the coffee shop?" Lassiter barked out to anyone who was standing nearby.

"We're still trying to get a line in," The tech told him. "He's cut off the phone lines."

"What about cell phones?"

"We wouldn't know any of their numbers." The tech looked confused.

Lassiter swore again and grabbed for the nearest uniformed officer. "Get me a radio." His face was serious, and the officer nodded before running off to locate a radio.

"Carlton," O'Hara came up next to him. She was out of breath and carrying her heels. She must have run from the station when she heard the news. "Where is he?"

Lassiter nodded towards the shop. "In there, with that psychopath."

"Who tries to rob a coffee shop two blocks from the station, with a uniformed officer inside?" O'Hara sounded worried.

"Here's the radio, sir." The officer from before nervously came up beside them.

Lassiter snatched it out of his hands and scrolled through the channels trying to find the one of McNab's radio. He knew he hit the right one when McNab reached for the radio on his shoulder inside.

O-O-O-O

This was all his fault, Buzz decided as he watched his captor pace back and forth in the back of the coffee shop. If he had gotten to the station earlier, he could have made a new pot of coffee for Detective Lassiter. Then he wouldn't have had to run down the street to get some.

McNab jumped as his radio squawked. The man with the gun didn't seem to hear it, but McNab turned the volume down just to be on the safe side.

"Don't mute me, McNab." Lassiter's voice snapped at him. "The idiot keeping you all in there cut the phone lines and I need to talk to him."

"S-sir?" McNab looked outside to see Lassiter staring at him.

"I need to talk to the man with the gun." Lassiter sounded angry.

Buzz looked around the coffee shop. He'd gotten there before the morning rush, which meant there were only a few people in the café with him. There was an older couple wearing jogging outfits, a college age kid, who looked like he might have been there all night, Buzz himself, and then the barista behind the counter. Oh and the guy Lassiter wanted to talk to, the guy in the backroom. Buzz wasn't sure what the guy was thinking, trying to rob a coffee shop two blocks from the station.

"Ex-excuse me," McNab spoke up earning himself glares from the other occupants on the coffee shop.

The man in the back looked towards him. "What?" He snapped.

"Detective Lassiter would like to speak with you," McNab held up the radio.

The man with the gun scowled. "Give me that," He snatched the radio from McNab's outstretched hand.

O-O-O-O

Lassiter spoke into the radio as soon as he saw McNab pass it off. "This is Head Detective Carlton Lassiter of the SBPD. Let everyone go and come out peacefully."

The man continued to scowl at him through the window. "That won't be happening, Detective."

Lassiter's grip tightened on the radio. "And why not?"

The man with the gun actually smirked at that question. "Because I said so," With that there was a click as the radio turned off.

"Damn it, O'Hara," Lassiter turned to his partner. "Where are we on SWAT?"

"The chief doesn't want to go in until we have more information." She told him.

"McNab is in there, and if this psycho decides to start killing people, he'll be the first to go." Lassiter's voice tightened as he realized what he was saying.

O-O-O-O

"I'll be keeping your radio," The man with the gun informed McNab. "I don't need you communicating with your friends out there."

McNab didn't say anything. He looked at the other hostages. They were all sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the counter from the window. McNab was the only one still standing.

"Don't even think about flashing hand signals at them either." The man interrupted McNab's thoughts.

"Why did you come in here?" Buzz spoke up. He could feel the glares from his fellow hostages again.

The man turned. "What?"

Buzz cleared his throat and spoke again. "Why did you pick this coffee shop to rob? I mean, it's two blocks from the station. There are always officers here. There's a Starbucks on the other side of town that has a response time of nearly ten minutes. You could have been in and out and we never would have caught up with you, but here... you had to take hostages." McNab's eyes widened as he put the puzzles pieces together.

"You know what?" The man snapped. "You talk too much. If you aren't careful I'll shut you up."

O-O-O-O

Lassiter was using binoculars to watch the man with the gun. "Do we have any idea who this guy is?" He asked the tech from earlier.

"No sir, we're still trying to run facial recognition."

"Carlton," O'Hara gently laid a hand on her partner's arm.

Lassiter shrugged her off. "I thought I told you to keep trying the radio." He snapped.

"Carlton," She repeated. "he's turned it off, we're trying to find another way to contact him."

As if the man inside could hear them, the radio crackled to life again. "Detective," There was almost a sing-song quality to his voice now. "Your officer hasn't been able to shut up, and for that I'm afraid I've had to do something you're really not going to like."

Lassiter snapped his head back to look through the window and could no longer see the tall form of McNab. "Bastard," Lassiter growled out.

"Tut-tut, no name calling." The man kept his voice in the same sing-song. "I'm prepared to make a deal."

"You're letting the hostages go, and surrendering?" Lassiter drawled, almost sarcastically.

The man laughed, sending a chill up Lassiter's spine. "No, I'm going to let you come in and exchange yourself for your officer here. Unarmed and don't think of trying anything funny, or poor Officer McNab might not get the medical help he needs." The radio went silent again.

Lassiter stalked to his car with O'Hara following right behind him.

"Carlton, what are you doing?"

"I'm putting my glock in the car, O'Hara,"

"You can't!" She protested at him.

Lassiter swiveled around to face her, nearly knocking her down in the process. "Buzz McNab is a valuable resource to this department and it is my duty to get him out of this alive."

"A valuable resource? You make it sound like that man has a department laptop in there with him."

Lassiter scowled. "O'Hara, I know I am not the most understanding, caring or nice person in the station. All of those traits are something McNab has. He also has a wife, unlike me, and I will not going show up on her doorstep without him." He locked his side arm in the car and shrugged off his suit jacket, tossing it on the backseat.

"Carlton," O'Hara started to object again.

He held up his hand. "No objections, if you hear gun fire, you don't wait. Do you understand?"

O'Hara nodded, looking tense. "I understand."

O-O-O-O

McNab was now sitting in the kitchen area of the coffe shop. He wasn't sure what the man with the gun had done, but he didn't remember sitting down. He looked up, trying to make his eyes focus.

"Don't worry about it," The man said from somewhere above him. "It's just my own personal version of a muscle relaxant. It'll keep you from running off. The duct tape is just a bonus to keep you from talking."

Buzz could feel the tape across his mouth, and found that when he tried to lift his arms it was nearly impossible thanks to the drugs and the zip ties that bound his hands together.

The man wasn't looking at him however, he was more focused on the scene outside the window. Carlton Lassiter was walking towards the coffee shop with out his holster. The man waved at the barista. "Unlock the door for him, but don't try anything. I've still got a gun."

The girl, who looked to be in her late 20's, got up quickly and unlocked the door. When Lassiter was inside, she relocked it and scurried to sit back down before the man with the gun could do anything.

"Detective," The man with the gun smiled.

"Where's McNab?" Lassiter's keen eyes began taking stock of the situation.

"He's in the kitchen, can't really talk to you right now."

"What do you want?"

At this question the man with the gun smiled, and leveling the gun with Lassiter's chest, he murmured one word. "You,"

O-O-O-O

Juliet stood watching the coffee shop with the binoculars. Lassiter was still standing, he was in front of the man with the gun, giving no opening to the snipers that were being placed around the coffee shop.

The tech rushed up beside her. "Detective, the facial recognition software had a hit."

O'Hara grabbed for the picture, scanning it and the file it was stapled to. "Neil Logan?"

"Detective Lassiter shot his brother while trying to arrest him on drug charges about six years ago. The brother pulled a gun, and Lassiter fired hitting him in the leg, but with all the drugs in his system he went into shock and died before the EMTs arrivesd. The inquiry went on for months." The tech said, pointing to where in the file that information was located. "Neil Logan sent threatening letters until Lassiter had him arrested for harassment. They dropped the charges after Logan agreed to stop and pay for the legal expenses."

"When did the letter's stop coming?"

"Just before you transferred here,"

"It's been five years, and this guy is just now going after Lassiter?"

"The file says he's been in prison up until three months ago on various misdemeanors."

Juliet chewed her lip and turned her attention back to the shop. "I just hope Lassiter knows what he's doing."

O-O-O-O

"You said you would trade McNab for myself." Lassiter reminded Logan.

Logan cocked his head to the side and smiled slightly. "Yes, yes I did,"

There was a muffled grunting from the back and Lassiter's eyes flickered to the door between the main area and the kitchen.

"I do believe Officer McNab is objecting to that idea." Logan continued to look amused by the whole situation.

"McNab doesn't have a say," Lassiter narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I have a better idea," Logan decided. "We'll just let one other person go instead."

"That wasn't the plan, McNab needs medical attention."

Logan laughed at that. "From that muscle relaxant? No, that'll flush through his system in another few minutes. The medical attention will be for you, if you try to do anything." He paused, "Now, who should we let go, it'll make the cops happy, and I still get to hang on to you."

Lassiter remained silent. Now that he was in the coffee shop, he was able to get a clear look at the man with the gun. He looked familiar, but Lassiter just couldn't place his face.

"I could let the coffee girl go," Logan was musing. "Or maybe the old joggers." He smiled. "That's the one," He motioned at the older couple. "You two, up. Coffee girl, you unlock the door again. Just remember, a lot of people are going to get hurt if you try anything." He returned the gun to its former position, pointed directly at Lassiter's chest.

Lassiter watched as the barista did exactly as she was told. He knew the joggers would be fine. They would be questioned, and then O'Hara would panic if they told her that the man with the gun was going to probably shoot him. "Why do you want me?" Lassiter knew he had the keep the man talking.

Logan's eyes clouded over. "I knew you wouldn't remember, it's probably just another case to you. Another man you killed and left his family to pick up the pieces."

"The Patrick Logan case?" Lassiter's mind connected all the dots. "That was almost six years ago."

"I'm surprised you even remember his name." Logan's face was turning red with anger as he talked.

"I remember you sending me letters for a year afterwards." Lassiter's tone was even.

"Then you arrested me,"

"You broke the law, just like your brother."

Logan cocked the gun, "You say one more thing about my brother and I will fire."

Lassiter could see McNab behind Logan. The officer was standing on shaky legs and the duct tape was still covering his mouth. Logan had taken his gun, that much was obvious, but McNab was holding a knife in his hands. "Before you do anything, why don't you let some more of these people go. They don't need to see what you want to do." Lassiter was holding his hands out in front of him, trying to placate Logan, who was getting more and more jumpy.

"No!" Logan, gripped the gun tighter. "You don't get to tell me what to do."

McNab couldn't do anything with the knife he'd picked up in the kitchen. His hands were still bound and Logan was liable to fire if he struck now.

Lassiter's gaze flickered back to McNab's face. The rookie was going to have to do something to disrupt the deep focus Logan had on Lassiter's chest.

O-O-O-O

"There's McNab again," O'Hara breathed a sigh of relief as she watched through the binoculars. When the jogger couple had been released a little bit of tension had been released, but now that was back.

"What about Detective Lassiter?" The tech asked.

"He's just standing there." O'Hara sounded puzzled. She knew that if her partner had been given any kind of opening he would have taken it.

O-O-O-O

"I need you to put the gun down on the floor and slide it over to me," Lassiter ordered Logan. "Just give me the gun and we can all get out of this."

Logan's grip tightened even more, "Stop talking!" He half shouted.

McNab had gotten the hint, slowly he set the knife down, careful not to make any noise. Using the last bit of momentum, the drugs weren't completely out of his system and getting up had taken all of his strength, he shoved the knife between Logan's feet towards Lassiter.

The next few seconds seemed to play out in slow motion, like when Spencer and Guster tried to play Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon at the station. Praying he didn't cut himself Lassiter lunged for the knife, while at the same time reaching up to shove Logan's arm with the gun towards the ceiling. The gun went off and Lassiter felt little pieces of glass shower down on him as the bullet hit the lamp above them. He had the knife in his hand and in a flash was standing behind Logan after disarming him, handing the gun back to McNab.

Logan struggled, but stopped when he realized McNab was the one with the gun now.

"Unlock the damn door, and someone take the tape off of McNab's mouth." Lassiter snapped out orders. He could see O'Hara and a whole slew of officers making their way towards the shop. They had no doubt heard the gun fire.

The barista unlocked the door, while the college student stirred to life and carefully removed the tape from McNab's mouth.

O-O-O-O

O'Hara had been watching through the binoculars. As soon as she saw Lassiter lunge forward, she had pulled out her side arm. "This is it, move in quickly. Be prepared to shoot." She called out, making her way towards the front of the coffee shop.

Someone on the inside unlocked the door and O'Hara cautiously entered.

"Damn it, O'Hara. Get some cuffs." Lassiter snapped as Logan tried to get loose of the detective's iron grip.

O-O-O-O

Lassiter was standing next to the ambulance with McNab. He had insisted the rookie be checked out, since Logan had injected something into his system. They had called Francie and told her to meet him at the hospital.

"Thank you, sir." McNab broke the silence.

Lassiter looked over at him. There were red marks on his face from the tape, and his wrists were a little raw from the zip ties. "You're the one who got me a knife."

"I should have just made that new coffee pot this morning,"

Lassiter couldn't believe what he was hearing. McNab was apologizing for causing this situation. "Just shut it, McNab. There would have been an officer in there no matter what time of day Logan chose to go in." He held up a hand to stop McNab from talking more, "And to be honest, I'm glad you were the one in there with me." McNab shut his mouth, he wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Now go see your wife," Lassiter's gruff attitude was back. "and don't tell Spencer I was sharing my feelings or anything, because I wasn't." He headed towards where O'Hara was standing.

"What going on? Gus and I got stuck in a Magnum P.I. marathon." Shawn Spencer's cheery voice hit Lassiter's ears as he watched the Psychic and his friend come up to them.

"O'Hara, fill them in. I'm going to get some damn coffee." Lassiter rolled his eyes and headed for the station.


End file.
